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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25014919">Fair Folk and Fortresses</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FairyChess/pseuds/SoDoRoses'>SoDoRoses (FairyChess)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>LAOFT Extras [109]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sanders Sides (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Tabletop Gaming, An AU of an AU, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Trans Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, a whole forest of pine trees, very brief mention-only of unsafe binding</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:13:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,047</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25014919</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FairyChess/pseuds/SoDoRoses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Virgil Baumgartener’s Saturdays are about to open up, and his brother and sister have ideas about how he ought to fill them.</p><p>Or,</p><p>An AU where LAOFT is a tabletop roleplaying game and Greta is the DM.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Anxiety | Virgil Sanders &amp; Deceit | Janus Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders &amp; Elliott (Cartoon Therapy), Anxiety | Virgil Sanders &amp; The Dragon Witch, Anxiety | Virgil/Creativity | Roman/Logic | Logan/Morality | Patton, background dukeceit - Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>LAOFT Extras [109]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1365505</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>442</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Fair Folk and Fortresses</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The ttrpg they are playing is not DND (the plot of laoft is not really suited to dungeon crawling/combat-oriented mechanics) and is probably closer to something like Kids On Bikes or Monster of the Week, but I didn’t have a specific game in mind so the mechanics are totally made up on the spot as I wrote this. We’re Just Vibing</p><p>big thanks to my friend vivi ( @trivia-goddess) for beta- reading!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“… It is not quite happily ever after; but it is very, very close,”</p><p>“Fuck you,” choked Virgil, and Patton immediately burst into tears.</p><p>“Literally actually <em>fuck you-</em>”</p><p>“Here I am,” said Greta, throwing her hands up and laughing, “Having sunk <em>months</em> worth of my free time into this campaign, when all <em>you</em> had to do was show up on saturdays-”</p><p>“Fuck. You. So. Much,” said Virgil, grabbing dice at random and throwing them at his sister to punctuate each word, “I cannot <em>believe</em> you made Pat cry-”</p><p>“Oh, sure, <em>Patton’s</em> crying, not <em>you.</em> Never <em>you,</em> of course-”</p><p>“Shut <em>up,</em> I hate you,” Virgil laughed wetly.</p><p>“What do you think, Jay, do you think we did good?” said Greta airily, setting her chin on her fist.</p><p>Janus snorted, rolling his eyes.</p><p>“Please, I barely participated in this nonsense-”</p><p>“You make an excellent villain,” said Roman, “Though a terrible boyfriend, apparently,”</p><p>Janus gasped in mock offense.</p><p>“Roman, do you mean to tell me you think Phillip made a <em>bad decision</em> when he hooked up with an amoral bastard of a usurper? Perish the thought,”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah, my character’s a dumbass, leave me in peace,” laughed Roman.</p><p>“You <em>said,</em> and I quote, ‘I roll to seduce the Serpent King,’” said Greta, and her Roman impression was as impressive as it was mildly insulting, “And I told you you’d regret it, but you were determined-”</p><p>“I <em>really </em>should have been suspicious when I clearly failed the roll and you let me do it anyway,” said Roman, “You are <em>evil, </em>you hear me Baumgartener? <em>Evil,</em>”</p><p>“They’re in <em>love</em> and I’m <em>gay,”</em> Patton wailed, and Janus and Greta burst into identical fits of snickering.</p><p>“There, there,” said Logan, patting Patton on the top of his head soothingly, “It’s only a game, Patton. Our characters are not actually in love, they aren’t real,”</p><p>Virgil did <em>not</em> flinch, and he also didn’t deign to give Greta’s pointed expression or Janus’s exhausted eye roll any kind of response.</p><p>“Well, I’m sure you’ll be delighted to know that I have no designs on your virtue in real life, Roman,” said Janus, waving his hand.</p><p>“Thank goodness,” said Roman, teasing, “Pretty sure my brother would kill me in my sleep,”</p><p>Janus turned bright crimson almost instantly, and Virgil gave him a mocking smile.</p><p>“Gosh, Jay, you look really red, are you okay?” he said faux-innocently.</p><p>“Do you <em>really</em> want me to retaliate here?” said Janus, and Virgil shut his mouth with an audible click and mimed zipping his lips.</p><p>“Patton,” Logan cut in, “There’s really no reason to be so distraught,”</p><p>“Oh, you were crying too!” Patton exclaimed.</p><p>“I most certainly was <em>not,</em>” Logan scoffed.</p><p>“You fibber!” said Patton, “You’re really gonna tell me you didn’t cry when Greta talked about one day burying Lindsay’s brother?”</p><p>Logan flushed.</p><p>“That hardly counts!” he said, “Greta was- she was <em>cheating</em>, I actually <em>do</em> have a brother, it was a cheap shot-”</p><p>“<em>You</em> come to me with a character who has a twin,” said Greta primly, “And you expect me <em>not</em> to pull on <em>all</em> your little nerd heartstrings? What is this, amateur hour?”</p><p>“Lindsay is a changeling, not a twin, it’s different,” Logan muttered mutinously. Everybody knew he was full of shit, but nobody called him out again.</p><p>“Alright nerds,” said Janus, “Mother has <em>graciously</em> made you heathens reheatable dinners since it is, you know, three in the fucking morning,”</p><p>“You’re awake, too, jackass,” said Virgil, chucking another die at his brother.</p><p>“So dry your silly, silly tears and come eat. And then get out,”</p><p>“We are staying over, Janus,” said Logan, exasperated, “You know this. We <em>always</em> stay over on Saturdays,”</p><p>“No idea what you’re talking about,” said Janus as they all rose from the table, giving an affectionate ruffle to Logan’s hair when he got in arms reach.</p><p>Virgil moved to follow them, but Janus, bringing up the end of their line up the stairs, turned and gave Virgil a sunny smile that immediately made Virgil suspicious. Greta grabbed the back of Virgil’s hoodie, choking him slightly, and Janus’s smile turned smug as he turned and disappeared up the steps.</p><p>“What gives, Grettie?” said Virgil, shrugging out of her grip and turning.</p><p>Greta’s smile looked borderline deranged.</p><p>“If you ever make me do that again,” she said, “I will kill you dead,”</p><p>Virgil raised his brows.</p><p>“Like you aren’t already planning the next campaign?” he laughed, “You love DMing,”</p><p>“Yes,” she said patiently, “I do. I love it very much. Which is why I would like to be able to <em>do so</em>, without watching you four make <em>cow eyes </em>at each other the whole time-”</p><p>Virgil scowled.</p><p>“Are you serious, Grettie, <em>this</em> again-”</p><p>“I let you do it!” she said, throwing her hands up, “I let you all pull your four-way pining subplot and I didn’t say anything but I am <em>dying,</em> Verge, I am really actually <em>dying-”</em></p><p>“<em>Greta</em>,”</p><p>“I thought you were going to <em>faint</em> when Patton kissed you all those weeks ago, for goodness’ sake-”</p><p>“When <em>Morgan,</em> kissed <em>Brennus, </em>which I <em>keep telling you-</em>”</p><p>“-Is different,” Greta cut him off, “So you keep saying,”</p><p>She spread her hands out wide.</p><p>“But I was watching the whole time, Virgil. And I didn’t see any difference,”</p><p>Frowning, Virgil crossed his arms and said nothing.</p><p>Greta threw her head back and groaned.</p><p>“Virgil. Brother dear. My best friend and partner in all crime, sometimes literally-”</p><p>“What?” he snapped.</p><p>“I can give you a happy ending in the game,” she said, “But <em>I</em> can’t do anything about your massive, glaringly obvious mutual crush on our friends. <em>You</em> have to do the heavy lifting there,”</p><p>Virgil went to snap something acidic and witty – though he hadn’t actually thought of anything yet – when he heard the door at the top of the basement steps open.</p><p>“I dunno what y’all are chatting about down there,” Patton called, “But Roman’s gonna eat all the lasagna if you don’t get a wiggle on,”</p><p>Virgil took that as the out that the universe was surely being merciful and providing for him, hurrying toward the steps.</p><p>“I’m just saying-” Greta continued, following him up.</p><p>“Grettie, I’m begging,” he muttered, “Please just drop it,”</p><p>Greta let out an exaggerated groan of frustration before throwing her hand up.</p><p>“Fine. Pine in silence, you YA protagonist,”</p><p>“I will, thanks for the encouragement,” said Virgil mockingly.</p><p>Greta just rolled her eyes, and Virgil followed her up the stairs, trying not to think about the fluttering feeling in his stomach at the thought she might be right.</p><p>—</p><p>Roman spent the majority of his childhood wanting to be Mrs. Baumgartener when he grew up.</p><p>He still low-key wanted to be her when he grew up, though it was somewhat complicated by the fact the Roman turned out to be a boy – he’d pass on the insanely long hair and the silky gowns, but the <em>presence</em> was still something he’d kill to have.</p><p>And as Virgil loved to say, gender was fake anyway.</p><p>It was three in the morning and the house smelled like microwaved lasagna – Mrs. Baumgartener swanned out of her bedroom in a purple nightgown and a black robe, not a strand of her black hair out of place, looking like she just stepped off the set of a photo-shoot rather than got woken up in the middle of the night by a gaggle of teenagers.</p><p>She hummed faintly, expression sleepy, kissing Janus and the twins on top of the head in succession before setting her chin on Greta’s hair, ignoring Greta’s grumbles.</p><p>“Did you win, children?” she said airily.</p><p>Virgil groaned.</p><p>“Yes, actually,” said Logan, “Unlike every other time you have asked that question,”</p><p>“Oh, lovely,” she said, “We’ll have to celebrate. We have cookies,”</p><p>“It is bad for one’s sleep cycle to have sugar so late-” said Logan, trying to make his voice heard over Patton’s cheering.</p><p>“I won’t tell if you don’t tell,” said Mrs. Baumgartener in a sing-song voice, kissing Greta’s hair once more and stepping away from the table. She pulled two packages out of the cupboard, one of Oreos and one of lemon sandwich cookies, carrying them back and sitting at the head of the table.</p><p>“So, tell me how you won,”</p><p>“Sheer dumb luck,” said Roman.</p><p>“Not true!” said Patton, “It was such quick thinking with the distraction to get the ring-”</p><p>“Greta practically <em>handed me</em> that plan, with the writing on my arm-”</p><p>“You still had to roll,” reasoned Logan.</p><p>“That’s literally the <em>definition </em>of luck!” said Roman incredulously, “It’s <em>dice,”</em></p><p>Logan flushed pink, and Roman felt a short throb in his chest.</p><p>Roman had presented Greta with his project-y, pining-for-his-three-best-friends backstory with the assumption that he’d get some kind of tragic monologue and heroic sacrifice out of it.</p><p>And then Patton had made his character <em>kiss</em> Virgil’s and everything had changed. Everyone had played along, and everyone got a happy ever after.</p><p>Or at least, the characters did. But now they were all just themselves again, and Roman had no excuse to make flirty comments at his friends and pass them off as “in-character” - the game was over. They won.</p><p>Hooray.</p><p>Clearing his throat, Roman shoved down the quip about Logan’s blush.</p><p>“Roman was <em>very</em> heroic,” said Patton around an oreo, “And Janus makes such a good villain! Very slimy-”</p><p>“Gee, thanks,” drawled Janus.</p><p>“And Logan and Virgil both had superpowers-”</p><p>“Says the guy who was arguably <em>the most </em>OP character in the game,” said Greta lightly.</p><p>As one, the group turned to her, except Janus who just took a bite of his lasagna with a smug grin.</p><p>“Huh?” said Patton, “You’re talking about Morgan?”</p><p>“Oh, hell yeah,” said Greta, “You never figured it out because you refused to sink <em>any</em> experience into the skill-”</p><p>Janus let out a total unsubtle cough that sounded like “sequel campaign” and Roman tossed a discarded cookie sleeve at him.</p><p>“But at higher levels you would have become like, kind of unstoppable,”</p><p>Patton looked offended.</p><p>“Well, why didn’t you <em>say</em> so?” he said incredulously.</p><p>“<em>You</em> made the character decision!” said Greta, putting up her hands, “I didn’t want you to feel like I was trying to talk you out of it! And I mean, you have access to all the same books I do,”</p><p>Patton crossed his arms, pouting adorably.</p><p>“Aw, Pat, don’t sulk,” said Roman, elbowing him gently.</p><p>“And it was not as if you were useless,” said Logan, “The second riot would have gone spectacularly terrible if you had not intervened with the monster,”</p><p>“Okay, okay,” said Patton, uncrossing and swiping a lemon cookie right off Roman’s plate, “Fair enough,”</p><p>The quiet chatter continued, but it was apparently not quiet enough. The floorboard of the hallway creaked, and when Roman looked up there was a tiny, dark-haired head peeking out from the doorway.</p><p>“Oh, hello, <em>liebling</em>,” said Mrs. Baumgartener softly, “Did we wake you? I’m so sorry,”</p><p>“S’okay,” said Elliot in a tiny voice.</p><p>“Well, don’t just sit there,” said Virgil, smiling gently at them, “We woke you up, we have to share the cookies,”</p><p>The six-year-old perked up at the mention of sugary sweets, trotting across the floor in footie pajamas and clutching a stuffed blue spider. Patton was clearly trying his best not to react as Elliot set Clue on the table and crawled into Virgil’s lap.</p><p>Virgil readjusted them gently, pressing a kiss to the top of their head, and Roman felt that very particular brand of <em>pining</em> he experienced every time Virgil was cute with his baby sibling.</p><p>Why did they have to be so- so-</p><p>Why did <em>Roman</em> have to be so <em>hopelessly gay</em> was more like it, but it wasn’t like his best friends were blameless! Walking around, wonderful and handsome and kind and <em>amazing </em>all the time. Totally unreasonable.</p><p>Roman realized he’d been staring for… a good long while, and quickly moved his gaze away from Virgil. He caught Greta’s eye, directly across from him, and she feigned putting her cheek on her hand so she could make obnoxious kissy faces without the rest of the table seeing.</p><p>Roman kicked her in the shin.</p><p>“Saw that,” murmured Mrs. Baumgartener.</p><p>“Sorry,” said Roman automatically.</p><p>“Nonsense,” she replied, “If you don’t practice fighting on each other how will you fight your enemies? Just be careful, don’t hit Ellie by mistake,”</p><p>“Enemies,” muttered Virgil, “Because normal people have capital-E Enemies in this day and age-”</p><p>“I do,” said Mrs. Baumgartener, Greta, and Janus in exact, haunting unison.</p><p>“You’re with me, right Ellie?” said Virgil, ducking his head, “Band together against our crazy family?”</p><p>“Uh, sure!” said Elliot, mouth full of oreo, “Can I play the zilly-phone in, in our band?”</p><p>Patton made a noise so high Roman wondered if it could function as one of those ringtones adults couldn’t hear.</p><p>“Yeah, Ellie, you can play the xylophone,” laughed Virgil.</p><p>Virgil pressed another kiss to their temple, setting his cheek on their hair, and Roman sat at the table and tried not to pine too obviously.</p><p>—</p><p>Logan was often surprised by how much the Baumgarteners got away with – the time Virgil got into a fistfight with Robbie Harris after he called Logan an ableist slur and Mrs. Baumgartener’s only response was to critique his form, as he’d broken his knuckles, came to mind – but apparently elementary schoolers being up at three AM was where she drew the line.</p><p>After a few minutes of allowing Elliot to indulge in cookies, she plucked them out of Virgil’s arms, kissed all four of her children once more, and carried Elliot off to bed. She tossed a mocking and clearly not serious order to go to bed over her shoulder, which the rest of them took seriously anyway, as Logan at least, was actually quite tired.</p><p>They cleared up the table, and Greta and Janus – who both vehemently detested sleeping on the floor “like heathens” and therefore did not deign to join Logan and the other three in the blanket fort – left to go sleep in their own beds.</p><p>Logan enjoyed tabletop games, but if he was being honest, <em>this</em> had been his favorite part of Saturdays since the very beginning.</p><p>Logan and Patton were in charge of the blanket fort, because Roman got overly grandiose ideas in his head and they never wound up having any genuine structural integrity, and Virgil was the best at distracting Roman, usually by initiating Disney debates.</p><p>Logan built the outer walls out of the kitchen chairs, the couch, and several draped blankets, while Patton lined the floor with couch cushions, pillows, and other soft, comfortable objects. Roman returned from the bathroom in his oversized t-shirt and bright red pajama pants.</p><p>“Did you remove-”</p><p>“Yes, Nag Race,” said Roman, not particularly sharply, “Just like every time you’ve ever asked me before a sleepover,”</p><p>“Not <em>every</em> time,” muttered Logan.</p><p>“Okay, <em>one</em> time, I fall asleep during the movie and forget to take off my binder-”</p><p>“Sorry,” said Logan, flushing, “I just- I just worry,”</p><p>Roman’s face softened into fondness, and he ruffled Logan’s hair as he passed him. Logan felt his ears burn with the force of his blushing, quickly returning to the blanket fort construction and trying not to look too obviously embarrassed.</p><p>There was a lot of… hair-ruffling, and arm punches, and other such moves, in Logan’s life. He tried not to think about it too much, because it was just an incredibly painful reminder the Logan was rather hopelessly besotted with his three best friends, who Logan sometimes suspected saw him as merely their slightly younger tag-a-long, included only because his parents and Roman’s mother had been friends since before they were born.</p><p>But Logan didn’t like to dwell on it. It was what it was, and most of the time it was very clear they cared for him, even if it was not quite the same affection Logan held for the rest of them. And that was perfectly fine.</p><p>And then – the game happened.</p><p>Logan still, after months of playing it and hours of it being over, didn’t know what to make of it. Roman and Patton had initiated the… romance, and Logan had played along, wondering all the while what they were <em>thinking,</em> why on earth they would do such a thing.</p><p>He’d asked Thomas, who had only groaned loudly and refused to elaborate. He’d asked Kai, who had punched him in the arm, called him a moron, and proceeded to destroy him in Smash Bros until Logan had let it go.</p><p>It was… <em>maddeningly</em> frustrating. Logan was fairly used to feeling like he was the only person not in on a joke, but normally one of the other three was always happy to explain it to him. But the idea of asking<em> them </em>left a strange, squirming feeling in his stomach, a jumble of nerves and something dangerously close to hope.</p><p>The idea of the sheer embarrassment of asking and getting a negative answer made him slightly dizzy. The idea of asking and getting a <em>positive</em> answer was so overwhelming he didn’t even <em>know</em> how he felt about it, only that he was pinning the blanket ceiling into place with binder clips and trying not to let on that his hands were shaking.</p><p>“It’s a blanket fort, not an emergency shelter, Specs,” laughed Roman, “I think it’s got all the structural integrity it needs,”</p><p>“I’m sure you will be grateful when we don’t wake up suffocated by a comforter,” said Logan dryly.</p><p>But Roman wasn’t really <em>wrong – </em>the fort was complete. Logan and Patton changed in the bathroom and returned, crawling into the little cave to find Virgil and Roman already laying on their sides, facing each other and in the middle of a heated debate about, of all things, the cricket from <em>Mulan.</em></p><p>“Why would a movie need <em>two</em> funny animal sidekicks?” said Virgil, “The answer: it doesn’t,”</p><p>“Why on earth not?” said Roman incredulously, “‘Less is more’ is for cowards,”</p><p>“You know as well as I do he wasn’t even actually <em>supposed</em> to be in the movie-”</p><p>“And we are so <em>lucky</em> to live in such a timeline-”</p><p>“He’s shoehorned in, admit it,” said Virgil.</p><p>Roman crossed his arms, scowling; Patton laid next to Virgil, propping himself up on his elbow, and Logan laid on Patton’s opposite side, watching them all.</p><p>“You don’t have all the facts,” Roman grumbled.</p><p>Virgil’s face softened into exasperated fondness, sighing.</p><p>“Which are?” he said, smiling.</p><p>“I love him,”</p><p>“You can’t meme your way out of me being right,”</p><p>“Virgiiiiiil, let me have my Cri-Kee,” whined Roman.</p><p>Virgil huffed.</p><p>“Fine. <em>For now,” </em>he said ominously, and he’d used his <em>character voice,</em> a rumbling growl that instantly set Logan’s face on fire.</p><p>“Oh, how spooky!” said Patton, “We should cosplay as our characters for Halloween!”</p><p>“That’s not cosplay, it’s just LARPing,” said Roman.</p><p>“It’s only LARPing if we also pretend to be them,” said Patton, “Which would also be pretty cool,”</p><p>“Yes,” said Logan, “Because requiring me to speak only exact truth in real-time is very fair,”</p><p>“Seconded,” laughed Virgil.</p><p>“Can you imagine me trying to get Dizzy to do <em>any</em> of the things Beatrice did?” said Roman, “She’s never spent a day in the woods in her life,”</p><p>“You get <em>dirt</em> on the Dizzy?” said Patton in a rather silly voice that Logan presumed was meant to be an imitation of Roman’s hopelessly spoiled cat (though he had no idea why Patton seemed to think she should speak in third person), “<em>Dirt</em> on her pretty, pretty fur?”</p><p>“Jail!” said Roman, in a similar voice, “Jail for father for one thousand years!”</p><p>“Alright, you meme-ing dorks,” said Virgil, “I’d like to be asleep <em>before</em> the sun comes up, thanks,”</p><p>“Haven’t you had enough sleep, Mr. Hundred-Year-Nap?” teased Roman.</p><p>“I <em>wish</em>,” said Virgil, “Can I bump it up to <em>two</em> centuries? Three? Or just make it an even millennium-”</p><p>“But we would miss you!” cooed Patton, cupping Virgil’s face in his hands and squishing.</p><p>Virgil snorted, patting one of the hands on his face placatingly, which was a fairly normal reaction.</p><p>And then he leaned over and kissed Patton, which was decidedly <em>not.</em></p><p>—</p><p>Patton must have fallen asleep at some point.</p><p>He <em>must</em> have, because this had to be a dream, had to be something his hopelessly pining brain had cooked up in a post-lasagna-and-cookies doze, because there was <em>no way</em> Virgil had just- had just up and <em>kissed</em> him with no warning. <em>Virgil</em>, who got nervous on carnival rides and in high places, Virgil who rivaled Logan for checklists when they went camping, Virgil who <em>very much for sure</em> did <em>not</em> like Patton back.</p><p>Behind him, Patton heard Logan make a slightly strained noise, and Virgil froze still. There was a pause that felt like it lasted hours but was probably only a few moments, and Virgil pulled back, eyes wide and mouth gaping.</p><p>They stared at each other, and then Virgil sat bolt upright.</p><p>“I didn’t do that,” he said, strangled.</p><p>“Uh, hate to break it to you Emo-wgli,” said Roman, equally thick, “But you did,”</p><p>“No, I didn’t!”</p><p>“The evidence-”</p><p>Logan’s voice cracked obviously in the middle, and Patton looked at him only to find Logan’s face bright crimson. He cleared his throat and continued.</p><p>“The evidence would suggest that you did, in fact, kiss Patton,” he said, with a note of something almost forlorn in his voice.</p><p>“Nope! No, absolutely not,” said Virgil, sounding a little hysterical, “There’s no way I fucked up <em>that</em> bad, oh my god, somebody kill me, I did <em>not</em> just-”</p><p>“You did,” Patton cut him off.</p><p>Then he reached out, cradled Virgil’s jaw in his hands, and kissed him again.</p><p>Ages ago, Patton had been sleep-deprived and giddy when he’d blurted that he was going to kiss Virgil, and he’d breathed a massive sigh of relief that everyone had been confused and thought he meant their <em>characters</em> - and he’d gotten weeks of wish fulfillment out of it, playing pretend that they were all in love.</p><p>If they could have been <em>actually</em> kissing this whole time, Patton was going to absolutely lose his <em>freaking</em> mind.</p><p>But it wasn’t just him and Virgil here, and as wonderful as kissing him was - kissing him! Patton was <em>kissing him!</em> - there was a chance that this could be about to go terribly wrong, and Patton should really start <em>talking</em> before that happened.</p><p>Which was kinda difficult, because he pulled away from Virgil’s lips only to see his face, wide-eyed and flushed pink and looking at Patton like he’d just handed him a palmful of glittering stars.</p><p>“Hi,” breathed Patton.</p><p>“Hey, Pat,” Virgil choked, strangled.</p><p>There was a long, stretched moment of silence, and Roman broke it with a tense, clearly false laugh.</p><p>“Wow, you two,” he joked, laced with fake brightness, “Took you long enough. You know everybody’s been waiting for you t-two to get your heads out of your asses for years,”</p><p>Logan made a strange noise then, a strained breath that sounded just on the edge of a sob, and Patton did a one-eighty to face him and found Logan’s expression absolutely <em>gutted.</em></p><p>“… Roman-“ Logan began woodenly, “Roman is correct. Congratulations,”</p><p>Patton had never heard him sound so miserable. He glanced back at Virgil, who was looking between all three of them with mounting panic, and Roman with a smile so painfully fake it made Patton’s stomach <em>twist</em> angrily, and Patton could see everyone closing off and refusing to talk about it and he had to say <em>something-</em></p><p>“<em>Don’tpunchmeplease,”</em> Virgil blurted suddenly, which Patton had zero seconds to unpack before Virgil lurched forward awkwardly and placed a hesitant smack of a kiss on Roman’s mouth.</p><p>Roman, because he was Roman, did not hesitate, and promptly crawled halfway into Virgil’s lap and kissed him like he thought it would grant him the secrets of the universe.</p><p>Patton felt his face flush, burning warm, at odds with the shiver that crept up his spine. There was a hesitant, featherlight touch on the back of his palm, and he tore his eyes away from the two of them to see Logan once more, his expression a jumble of pained confusion and hope.</p><p>“Patton?” he said quietly.</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>Logan glanced at Roman and Virgil, and then seemed to steel himself slightly.</p><p>“Can- could I- would you want to-?”</p><p>“<em>Yeah,</em>” repeated Patton, nodding emphatically.</p><p>Haltingly, Logan reached up and slid his palm against the side of Patton’s neck, tugging him forward gently, and the kiss he pressed to Patton’s lips was as soft as the fluffiest blanket and just as warm. Patton sighed into Logan’s mouth, dreamy and pleased, and Logan’s other hand moved under Patton’s to lace their fingers together. He deepened the kiss for only half a moment, pulling away and leaving Patton almost bereft with the loss of him.</p><p>“<em>Wow,</em>” came a breathless voice from behind them. Virgil and Roman were still tangled up in each other’s arms, no longer kissing but their lips slightly pink and their faces flushed. Patton giggled, and they broke out into identical, dopey grins.</p><p>“Tell me,” laughed Roman, “That we did not hook up in-game in four ways-”</p><p>“Six,” breathed Logan, “There are six possible two-person combinations between us-”</p><p>“Okay fine, <em>six</em>, six ways, when we could have been <em>actually</em> kissing in <em>actual</em> real-life where I wouldn’t have to pass off my flirting as in-character-”</p><p>“It would appear,” said Logan, tongue darting out to wet his lip, “That we did in fact do that,”</p><p>“Okay,” said Patton, “I- oh, gee, we really, really gotta have a grown-up conversation here and this is gonna sound so silly-”</p><p>“But?” said Roman, grinning.</p><p>Patton squirmed, smiling back and giggling nervously.</p><p>“Oh, I just- is it- is it really awfully silly if I- if I want <em>everyone </em>to kiss before we do that? Only if you want to!”</p><p>“That is the <em>exact</em> opposite of a hardship, Patton-cake,” said Roman, already crawling across the pillows and cushions until his beaming face was right by Logan’s, whose ears were burning crimson.</p><p>“Sound good to you, Specs?” he teased.</p><p>Logan smiled softly, letting out a quiet, barely-there little laugh, leaning over to peck Roman just as gently as he had Patton.</p><p>Roman slid his fingers in Logan’s hair, deepening and slowing the kiss into something that made Patton’s stomach flip just <em>seeing</em> them. They separated with a soft <em>smack,</em> and Logan’s expression had gone, impossibly, even softer. Roman was grinning, looking like he was going to climb onto the roof and sing he was so happy.</p><p>Roman swooped forward and pressed a smattering of small, quick kisses to the side of Logan’s face before turning to Patton.</p><p>“Us next?” he said, eyes glittering.</p><p>“Mhmm,” said Patton, nodding empahtically.</p><p>But instead of just kissing him, Patton looped his arms around Roman’s neck and proceeded to shower his face in enthusiastic pecks, in between nuzzles and bunny kisses until Roman was bright, <em>searing</em> red, staring at Patton with hearts in his eyes that were only just <em>barely</em> not literal.</p><p>“One more for the road?” giggled Patton.</p><p>“Are you an angel?” said Roman dreamily.</p><p>Laughing, Patton gave Roman that one final kiss, lips tender and sweet against each other, separating only to nuzzle their noses again.</p><p>“One more,” said Virgil softly.</p><p>Logan cleared his throat, flushing.</p><p>“Uh, yes, well-”</p><p>“You don’t have to,” said Virgil immediately.</p><p>“Don’t be <em>obtuse,”</em> said Logan, sounding a little hysterical, “I- Virgil, you hit your growth spurt and I have not gone ten <em>minutes</em> without wanting to kiss you since then-”</p><p>And Virgil apparently didn’t need to be told twice, because he closed the gap between them so quickly their noses bumped in a way that didn’t look strictly comfortable, and then they were kissing.</p><p>And nothing happened - there was no… music, or magic, or anything that indicated something special had happened, but oh, did it <em>feel</em> special. Special, and perfect, and everything Patton had wanted for what sometimes felt like his whole <em>life</em>, all of them together in a perfect, perfect- square dance of love! Patton was so happy he thought he might burst.</p><p>Virgil and Logan separated, smiling, and Logan made a noise that was half giggle and half whine, hiding his face in Virgil’s neck.</p><p>“Amazing,” breathed Roman, “Stunning, incredible, how on <em>earth</em> did I get <em>this</em> lucky-”</p><p>“Yes, um-”</p><p>Logan cleared his throat.</p><p>“Patton, you said- we ought to talk,”</p><p>“Right,” said Patton.</p><p>“We’re all into each other, we’re all dating, done, can we make out now?” whined Roman.</p><p>“Roman,” Logan admonished, though he looked <em>undeniably</em> tempted, and Patton wasn’t exactly feeling any more responsible, “We really- we really <em>should</em> discuss this-”</p><p>“What’s there to discuss?” said Roman, reaching over to hold Logan hand, “I love you,”</p><p>Logan’s entire face went scarlet, gaping.</p><p>“I do,” said Roman, quieter, “And you know- maybe- maybe I shouldn’t have said that, because this like, <em>just</em> happened, but- <em>God,</em> Logan, I feel like I’ve loved you my whole life and- Pat, V, almost that long, and I just can’t- can’t imagine keeping it in my own head for another second,”</p><p>Logan gaped for another few moments, and Patton’s feelings were welling up inside him like an overflowing dam.</p><p>“I love you too!” he blurted, “I really, really do, so much, I feel like my heart’s gonna <em>explode </em>sometimes. And I don’t want you to feel like I’m saying it so you gotta say it back-”</p><p>“Why wouldn’t I?” Logan cut him off, voice thick, “Why on <em>earth</em> wouldn’t I? As if it haven’t- haven’t adored you for years? Of course I love you. Don’t be absurd,”</p><p>“Yeah,” croaked Virgil, incredibly quiet. He looped in arms around Logan’s waist, hiding his face in the back of his shoulder.</p><p>“Love you too,” he murmured, “I- I don’t even know how I went this long without saying it,”</p><p>Roman laughed, warm and clear and nothing fake about it, pulling Patton into his lap so they were mirroring Logan and Virgil.</p><p>“Okay,” said Roman, in a way that Patton could tell he was trying not to get too emotional, “I’d say that counts as talking. <em>Now</em> can we make out?”</p><p>Dissolving into helpless giggles, Patton twisted in his arms, grinning.</p><p>“You know what?” he said, smirking, “Works for me,”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>you can also find me on <a href="tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors.tumblr.com">tumblr</a> and <a href="https://discord.gg/FweUDVe">discord!</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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